Acclaimed Texas singer-songwriters Kevin Welch and Jimmie Dale Gilmore hold out a different promise - a chance to share (and grapple with) the elusive art of song with a makeshift family of about a dozen student songwriters under the expanse of the West Texas sky.

"Music Is a Family: A Songwriting Retreat" takes place May 17-20 at El Cosmico, Austin developer Liz Lambert's vintage trailer, safari tent and teepee hotel and campground on Texas 67 just outside Marfa.

"It's gonna be really cool out there," Welch said. "It's nice to get out … in that atmosphere of creativity."

Both men have experience conducting songwriting workshops across the country.

But this is the first time that Welch, who lives in Wimberley, and special guest and Austin resident Gilmore have done one together and in Marfa.

Registration costs $1,250 per person and includes meals and accommodations. For more information, call 432-729-1950; online at www.elcosmico.com.

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Welch, who holds songwriting workshops nearly monthly in Wimberley, calls the Marfa excursion "a grand experiment." The locale may be new, but he expects the mix of participants to be wide ranging.

"I've had people that are total beginners to seasoned, touring professionals come from Australia, England, Canada, all over the United States," he said. "I've had people as young as 14 and people in their 70s, just anybody who is interested in the whole process and kind of tweaking their awareness when they're writing, whatever kind of song they're wanting to write."

Gilmore makes one point clear right off the bat for anyone participating or considering a stab at such an adventure: Don't be intimidated.

"So many people are afraid to try. They don't realize what they are capable of. Nearly everybody has at least a little bit of talent at it. But most people are inhibited. Getting rid of that inhibition is a major first step."

Interaction, companionship and friendly support are key elements of what should be a restorative weekend session. So is the isolation and inspiration that Marfa holds.

"It just seems to be an energy center," said Gilmore, who tapped that West Texas environment for his last record with Ely and Hancock, which was written mostly in Terlingua.

"That great, expansive far-West Texas (vibe) is very conducive to that kind of creativity," he said.

Like Welch, Gilmore says songwriting workshops tend to attract the gamut - from seasoned pros to newcomers "and total beginners."

"I've had people that are better songwriters than me take my classes," said Gilmore, who once a year teaches a course at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York. "Everybody is so different from everybody else, and music is really one place where individuality can really, really express itself. When it comes to art and music, people's individual self can come out. You especially see that in people that don't do it for a living."

One of the key goals is to break out of usual habits and think about songwriting in different ways, to focus.

"That's a lot of what they get out of the class," Gilmore said. "It really is a support group. A good collaboration always has that."

Welch puts it like this: "We love songs, just the form. Songwriting still remains completely fascinating to me. So it's really enjoyable to explore that with other people."

Both Gilmore and Welch see their roles as mentors - not record producers. They're not doling out advice about the record business.

But neither is "Music Is a Family" a willy-nilly gathering. Gilmore and Welch are pros.

"We're really analyzing what makes a song work and what makes a song, perhaps, not work," Welch said.

"I talk about structural elements of a song. I'm not going to tell anybody what kind of song to write or what to write about. It's teaching people to be really hyper-aware of what they're doing."

"There are rules, guidelines, you know. And they're there for a reason," Gilmore added.

"It's striking the balance between having the structure there that can be comprehended by the listener but at the same time having a surprise in it. That's what makes for great new stuff. It's within structure and anarchy at the same time."